Soulless Wands
by PearlescentQuill
Summary: [An OCAU]. Dementors are back in the Wizarding World. But they are no longer like what they once were. Follow two Hogwarts Prefects as they uncover the secrets behind the new breed of Dark Creatures. Though, with nothing quite as it seems, they may just become the ones needing to be uncovered.


**Disclaimer:** The world of Harry Potter belongs solely to British novelist J.K. Rowling.

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Finger tips danced along the windowsill while chocolate hued eyes followed the path of raindrops as they moved down the glass. Outside, the dark sky flashed warnings of an incoming storm, but the ensuing rumblings of thunder could scarcely be heard over the sound of the rattling train.

It had been storming much more than usual for the start of September. The previous years had been a lot warmer and dryer during this time. Or at least as warm and dry as the UK could be.

It was a full season away from being Winter, but the weather was already replicating the effects of the freezing snow season. Something in the air had shifted and it felt like it was becoming increasingly thicker. As if trying to weigh down those who breathed it. The Divinations Professor, Sybill Trelawney would most definitely see it as a bad omen.

In fact, the brunette who was currently staring out the window of the Prefects carriage aboard the Hogwarts Express knew that it was indeed a bad omen. The nights seemed longer, the days less bright and the people more distant.

_Once I'm at Hogwarts things will be alright_. She told herself. She had always considered the castle to be safest place in existence. The sixth year student felt safest there than in even her own home.

"Oi, Kaylee! Are you even listening?" The years new Head Boy from Ravenclaw house interrupted her musings with a displeased tone of voice. "I am assigning everyone their job for the Christmas Feast. A job that I can trust only them to complete."

A snorted chuckle sounded from a blonde seventh year Gryffindor Prefect who sat four seats down from Kaylee. His lap full of an assortment of empty sweet wrappers. "Well clearly there is one thing that you can trust a Puff to do and it's-" He was cut off by a throaty voice.

"Don't bother finishing that sentence Brainloser. If you haven't noticed, that 'Puff' is the only one here with enough sense to be using a self-writing quill. With as much as our new Head Boy has been blabbering on, it'll be any wonder if anyone remembers anything by the time we reach Hogsmeade station."

"It's Bryn Lousaur, Dustin. Ugh, you know what? Why don't you go slither back into that hole you came from!"

"I'll quickly slither my fist into you face if you'd like." He promptly responded. A dark smirk filled with promise forming on his face and knuckles cracking loudly.

"Hey, hey, hey! Let's not start that whole 'my wand's bigger than yours,' spat again." The Gryffindor Head Girl interjected before the verbal fight had the chance to escalate. Just then, the Head Boy cleared his throat.

"Uh… Samantha… I am sure that you actually started that fight last time." There was a moments pause before Samantha whacked his arm.

"Sh-shut up Nathaniel!"

While the other Prefects continued to chat, the rattling of the train over tracks had decreased in volume and it wasn't until the thunder could be heard more clearly that Kaylee realised what was happening.

"The train… is slowing down…" The Prefect carriage abruptly fell into silence at those words and everyone froze as if the lack of movement would help distinguish the truth in Kaylee's words.

Overhead the steady pitter patter of raindrops, changed into the thudding of hail. This however, was ignored in favour of the more unusual issue of the slowing of the Hogwarts Express.

"We can't be stopping! We're still at least an hour away from the station!" Samantha exclaimed and pulled out a silver pocket watch from the inside of her school robe to confirm her statement.

Almost as soon as she stopped speaking the train jerked to a stop sudden stop, causing a few of the Prefects to nearly fall out of their seats.

If that wasn't enough, the lights flickered and went out with little popping sounds. Next came the distinct crackling of something quickly freezing over. A particularly bright flash of lightening revealed the windows frosting up. Starting from the front of the carriage and spreading backwards and beyond, towards the end of the train.

Dark forms seemed to float by the windows, yet when the lightening flared, nothing was there.

Though more than a few Prefects moved away from the windows, Kaylee moved even closer. Almost pressing her face into the cold glass. It was clear that something was out there even if it couldn't be seen.

"You don't think that it's… I mean this is exactly what the text books described…" Samantha whispered to Nathaniel as the two of them stood back to back in the middle of the carriage, wands at the ready.

A shadowy figure moved closer to where Kaylee was looking out from. Her breath caught in her throat as it faded in and out of her peripheral vision. Just as she was about to dismiss it as a trick of her eye, a hooded head suddenly appeared mere inches from the other side of the window. A scream barely left her throat when she was yanked back by the scruff of her school robes.

"Expecto Patronum!" The shouted words reverberated through Kaylee's back as she was held against someones chest. The tip of the persons wand lighting up with a milky light and flashing blindingly in the direction of the Dark Creature. "Seriously stupid. Who goes closer towards the location of something clearly dangerous without their wand ready to defend them?" Dustin chastised and pushed her away from himself with a little more force than necessary. "And yes, congratulations for joining the dots. We have a Dementor problem." He snarked at Samantha who glared at him in return.

"Alright guys wands at hand, block all entrances of the train and gather the other sixth and seventh year students who can actually cast the Patronus Charm. And remember your happiest thought. They cannot hurt you unless you let them." Nathaniel spoke up, jumping right into his role as Head Boy and moving right for the connecting carriage door with Samantha right on his heels. Other Prefects quickly following after them.

Kaylee moved to also follow, but a large hand grabbed her arm, stopping her. "Nuh uh, stupid. You're staying with me." Dustin tugged her arm and moved her back by his side. "You've got some first years to calm down, 'cause I'm not about to do so alone."

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**Author Note:** Thank you for reading my very first fanfic. Don't forget to review! I'd love to hear your feedback aaaaaand if there are any Potterheads out there, I would be super happy if you could share with me commonly used Wizarding World phrases. I am sure that 'Merlins Beard!' will get boring after awhile, as it is the only one I know .

Oh! And maybe some tasteful insults… otherwise I am stuck with the few I made up Eg. 'Your face resembles a Bubotuber plant!' (Haha, there is a reason that I am not mean to people. I simply cannot and I would probably cheer them up more than anything XP)


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